Barack Obama's First Real Political Test Looms

The president's first real political test now looms -- with the impending collapse of GM reported this morning. Up until now -- though some of the president's moves have hardly received unanimous support -- they have been warmly greeted within his own party and by most independents.

That won't be the case in his dealings with the auto industry. A majority of Americans don't favor a bailout, though unsurprisingly, the residents of Michigan (a blue state) do. More important, his constituency is split on the issue. The working class part of his constituency is likely to favor blue collar bailouts since the banks got them. The more upper class part of his constituency won't. Joel Kotkin warned recently of a coming civil war between the party's gentry and populist wings. This is where it likely begins.